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Singapore lost visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Pakistan and West African country Mauritania after both switched from visa-on-arrival to e-visa systems, according to The Straits Times.
Japan and South Korea shared the second position, with access to 190 destinations.
Seven European Union countries – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain – shared third place with access to 189 destinations.
The U.S. which held the No. 1 position back in 2014 has slipped down to the 10th place in the rankings.
Insiders have panned the U.S.'s new visa fee as discouraging to visitors, CNN reported.
Foreign visitors to the U.S., the world’s largest economy, will soon have to pay a visa integrity fee of at least US$250 under the Trump administration’s newly enacted One Big Beautiful Bill.
The UAE stands out as one of the biggest success stories in the index, having climbed 34 spots over the past decade—from 42nd to 8th place.
China has also made significant progress, rising from 94th to 60th since 2015, despite not having visa-free access to the 29 countries in Europe's Schengen Area.
At the bottom of the ranking, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan have the world's least powerful passports.
The Henley Passport Index tracks global travel freedoms in 227 countries and territories using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association.
It ranks 199 passports based on the number of destinations their holders can enter without a prior visa. Continuously updated throughout the year to reflect changes in visa policies, the index is widely recognized as a key measure of global mobility.
